Clinton Aide Contradicts Willey

Willey and Clinton

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, March 16) -- An allegation by former
White House volunteer Kathleen Willey that President Bill
Clinton groped her in 1993 and later lied about it under oath
is at odds with Willey's eagerness to be part of Clinton's
1996 re-election effort, a presidential aide told CNN on
Monday.

Lewis told CNN she recalled meeting Willey in 1996 when Lewis
was deputy manager of the Clinton-Gore re-election campaign.
"(Willey) came to see me several times," Lewis said in a live
interview.

"She told me how much she wanted to work for the president,
how much she wanted to be part of the campaign team (and) if
it could not be with the campaign, then, perhaps, at the
Democratic National Committee, supporting the campaign."
(333 K / 30 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)

Ann Lewis

Lewis: Willey was 'proud' of Clinton link

"Kathleen Willey told me then how proud she was that she had
worked for the president in 1992," Lewis said. "She was very
positive about his achievements and that she had spent time
working at the White House."

In an interview broadcast Sunday night on CBS' "60 Minutes,"
Willey said that she and Clinton were in his private study
off the Oval Office in 1993 when Clinton embraced her
tightly, kissed her on the lips, fondled her breasts and then
placed her hand on his genitals.

She said the advances were unwelcome, that she did nothing to
signal Clinton that she might be interested in a sexual
encounter and that the president was aroused.

"I just remember thinking, 'What in the world is he doing?'"
she said. "I was just startled."

"I thought, well, maybe I ought to give him a good slap
across the face. And then I thought, I don't think you can
slap the president of the United States like that," Willey
said.

On Monday, Lewis said she was "very surprised" at what Willey
said in the interview, "because I felt my own personal
experience really contradicted what I saw and heard her say."

Willey, who was a White House volunteer at the time of the
alleged encounter, was not immediately available to respond
to Lewis' comments.